Cranberry Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake - Dairy Free, Gluten Free
Cook together. Eat together. Upside-down is always better.
As you know our family loves dessert. I myself am a big dessert lover. I try to have a little dessert every day because it’s delicious and I’m in a long term relationship with sugar.
Every Thanksgiving my mom, Lee, likes to make several different pies and experiment with possible new cake ideas. We have our staple pumpkin pie: one regular and one dairy and gluten free to make sure we are inclusive of everyone in our family. Then it’s a mix up of fruit or nut pies. I personally love pecan!
This year my mom went bold, not only in color but in taste. She decided to make a cranberry hazelnut upside-down cake that is both gluten and dairy free. It was a hit! It reminded me of a coffee cake and my sister and mom even enjoyed it for breakfast the next morning.
Whether you are looking for a cake for the holidays or just wanting to bake something sweet and flavorful, this cake won’t disappoint.
- Rebel
We did enjoy it the next morning — in fact we called it ‘coffee cake’ to give ourselves permission to eat it for breakfast. My son-in-law, Max, was ahead of me on that. He’s always so happy when we find a great, gluten free dessert or breakfast pastry.
Whenever I see a recipe that uses nut meal or nut flour and a small amount of all purpose flour, it’s likely to convert easily and well to a gluten free flour blend.
I took parts of Cook’s Illustrated Pear-Walnut Upside-Down Cake and Alice Water’s Cranberry Upside-Down Cake recipes and did a mash up. Instead of ground walnuts and pears in the one recipe, I decided to try ground hazelnuts and then the cranberries from the other recipe, thinking these flavors would taste really great together.
A good call. Now we have a new allergy-friendly dessert that we all love.
~ Lee
Whether you use nondairy margarine or real butter, gluten free flour or regular flour, this is a quick and easy dessert that your family and friends will love. We’d love to see your favorite upside-down cake — post a photo on Instagram and tag us with the hashtag #BTFBrecipes.
Cranberry Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake - Dairy Free, Gluten Free
ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick vegan margarine), melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 2/3 cup (9 ounces) fresh cranberries (preferably organic)
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1 cup toasted hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup flour, all purpose or gluten free
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
instructions:
How to cook Cranberry Hazelnut Upside-Down Cake - Dairy Free, Gluten Free
- Preheat oven to 300° and place rack in center of oven.
- Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Pick over and rinse the cranberries. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.
- Pour the melted margarine into the bottom of the pan and swirl to coat evenly. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted margarine. Sprinkle with the orange juice. Add the cranberries in an even layer.
- In a food processor, pulse 6-8 times until the hazelnuts form a course meal. Add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and pulse another 6-8 times until mixture reaches a fine crumb texture. Remove nut mixture to a bowl and set aside.
- Add eggs and sugar to the food processor work bowl (now empty - no need to rinse out). Process about 2 minutes until pale yellow. While food processor is still running, add the melted butter and oil until incorporated. Add the nut mixture and pulse about 4 to 5 times until just combined.
- Pour batter over the cranberries to form an even layer. Some cranberries may show through but the cake will bake up around them.
- Bake for 70 to 75 minutes, rotating pan after first 40 minutes. Cake is done when center springs back if pressed gently and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a rack for 12-15 minutes. Run a knife around the side of the pan and invert cake onto a wire rack. Gently peel off parchment paper. Let cake cool for 2 hours.
- Transfer to a serving plate. Cut cake into wedges and optionally top with whipped topping or a side of ice cream.
- Cover and refrigerate leftovers.
